MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY Doctors Prescribed System For Avoiding Drug Errors.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: Donna Howell

Does that scribbled prescription say Aldoril or Ativan? The difference could be life or death.

A 50-milligram dose of the first drug lowers blood pressure. The other drug treats insomnia. But "boy, if you got 50 milligrams you'd be sleeping for a few months," said Boston physician John Halamka.

Drug errors happen often. Some do kill, and many are otherwise costly to care providers. That's why Boston-based CareGroup Healthcare System is spending $2.5 million on a computerized prescribing system. It calls the price a bargain.

"The Institute of Medicine, in the last two years, has highlighted medication errors as the greatest threat to medical care today," said Halamka, spokesman for CareGroup.

He cites studies that show seven out of 100 patients suffer a drug error or adverse event due to medication. Each costs hospitals about $5,000, mostly in the extra care that's needed after the mistake is made, Halamka says. Yet a computer-based drug order entry system "has been shown to eliminate 90% of all medication errors," he said.

CareGroup looked for such a system, but wound up building its own.